


Quirks

by CanineR7A7



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Allergies, Human Experimentation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shiota Nagisa Needs a Hug, Starvation, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25756141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanineR7A7/pseuds/CanineR7A7
Summary: Nagisa’s classmates notice some of his more worrying quirks and gradually help him overcome them.
Relationships: Class 3-E & Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	1. Hunger (Yuma Isogai)

If asked which problem Isogai was most familiar with, his answer would easily be hunger. He was familiar with how it felt; the clawing ache that was sometimes impossible to ignore, the lack of energy that came with it, and the sick feeling that sometimes welled up when he’d gone without for a tad longer than usual. He was used to occasionally making the trek to school knowing that he’d spend lunchtime drinking a simple glass of water while his classmates enjoyed their meals, he wasn’t envious of them – as strange as it sounded – he knew that he only had to ask and one of them wouldn’t think twice about sharing, regardless of how much good-natured grumbling he’d have to endure.

No, there was nothing he didn’t know about hunger. The thing he didn’t understand was why one of his classmates seemed to be suffering with it. Sure, it wasn’t unheard of for one of them to forget their own food at home when in a hurry, or to bring one and simply not have the appetite for it. No, the strangeness came from the simple fact that it was happening too often to be a mistake, and Isogai was certain he wasn’t the only one to notice.

Nagisa, as much as he presented himself as an open book, was the class enigma. That’s not to say they thought he was hiding something, or that the boy they saw everyday was fake, he was much too earnest for that. But there were things about Nagisa that they’d all slowly begun to notice, tiny contradictions which – while not worrying in their own right – painted a troubling picture when combined.

But he was getting off target, the part that Isogai found worrying was the subtle signs that he himself exhibited whenever money became especially tight. The lethargic air which he carried when his mind wasn’t swimming with ideas related to assassination or when his veins weren’t humming with adrenaline from the training sessions with Mr. K, the way he didn’t seem to be building as much muscle as the rest of them despite running the same training exercises, and the almost-pleading glance he’d direct at one of their classmates – when they weren’t looking of course – when he’d eaten his abysmally small food scraps.

It stirred something deep in Isogai’s chest whenever he caught the glances, Nagisa never turned his half-pleading gaze on him, he couldn’t help but chuckle mirthlessly to himself at that – Nagisa was too kind-hearted, too self-sacrificial, to ever consider turning to someone else for help, especially when said person already had a lot on their plate, and wasn’t that just the _perfect_ way to describe the situation – his chuckles morphed into a sad sigh, he had to do something.

He mentioned his suspicions to Korosensei, internally smiling when the octopus merely handed him some cash with a silent promise to let him handle it, the last thing they needed was for Nagisa to become suspicious. Isogai didn’t say anything when he sat next to Nagisa that lunchtime, noticing that the other boy hadn’t eaten anything for the third time that week. He merely opened his store-bought meal, eating half of it before sliding the rest of it in front of his classmate, smiling in what he hoped to be reassurance when the other boy glanced at him in poorly disguised shock.

“Are you sure?” He nodded in confirmation, watching in silence as Nagisa finished it off, he noticed that the other boy seemed cautious, as though the food would be taken away from him and he was worried about being punished for eating it. The thought was an unpleasant one and Isogai was quick to shake it off, Nagisa would tell them if something was wrong, wouldn’t he?

It happened again a few weeks later, though this time Nagisa had made a sharp dash to the restroom after only managing a few mouthfuls. Isogai had followed him, desperately wondering what could have caused such a panicked reaction.

“Nagisa?” He’d found the boy dry-heaving in the one of the stalls, his breath rasping in his throat as he tried to force himself to throw up. He’d settled next to him on the floor, rubbing his classmate’s back until he’d got whatever it was out of his system. The boy heaved one more time before leaning against the wall, his bangs plastered to his forehead.

“Sorry.” The murmur was soft, barely audible despite the silence. Isogai merely shook his head, watching as the other boy regained his breath before helping him over to the sinks where he washed his mouth out.

“Are you okay?” He asked as Nagisa loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt collar in an attempt to breathe easier. The blue-haired boy nodded, smiling sheepishly before splashing his face.

“Yeah, allergies.” He replied, Isogai instantly cursed himself for not checking that sooner. Nagisa was quick to backtrack, likely noticing his expression. “Hey it’s fine, I got it out of my system so it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s my own fault for not checking if there were nuts in it first.” Isogai filed the information away for later, Nagisa was slightly flushed and his breathing wasn’t as strong as the class rep would have liked but he was still standing and didn’t seem to be in danger but still…

“At least let me take you to the infirmary, just to be sure?” Seemingly realising that the subject wouldn’t be dropped otherwise, Nagisa agreed, laughing when Isogai pulled the boy’s arm around his shoulders as though to support him. It had been amusing watching Korosensei flit around the room like a headless chicken until they were both certain that Nagisa would be fine.

They settled into a routine after that, sharing meals when one of them would have otherwise gone without, Isogai being careful to avoid anything containing nuts and Nagisa doing the same when he learned about Isogai’s own allergy to most dairy products. And if their classmates decided to pitch in every now and then when they noticed their little habit? Well, more free food for them.


	2. Weakness (Itona Horibe)

Itona despised weakness, that was the only thing that hadn’t changed when he finally accepted his place among his classmates, the mere thought of it was often all it took for him to tense up. The way he defined it had changed since he’d had the tentacles removed, he no longer thought of it in relation to a shallow concept of winning or losing, there was more to it than that. But the feel of it was the same, the crushing hopelessness that occasionally welled up now that the tentacles were no longer flooding his mind with thoughts of winning, the brief pangs of envy he felt when he struggled with things that his classmates didn’t need to think twice about, and especially the bitter taste in his mouth when he saw the signs of weakness in the very people who looked down on them.

Yes, weakness was an extremely familiar concept. But there was one aspect of weakness that he despised above all else, and that was when he saw the signs in his classmates. He’d written them all off as weak back when they were mere blips on his mission – barring Karma, that is – sure, he’d been angry then, the weakness should have been a good thing, they couldn’t possibly be a threat to him if they were weak right? But that was the problem, they had been weak and yet they were the ones being praised for their futile attempts, they were the ones being offered chance after chance after chance, and what had he received? More brutal tests and criticism, sure he hadn’t actually managed to kill the octopus but most of his attempts had been so close to success, and yet he was ridiculed as weak. It had taken time for him to learn the true meaning of weakness, or at the very least a meaning which suited his more relaxed lifestyle. But a changed perspective does little to change the emotions he’d come to associate with it, emotions which were only amplified when he saw the weaknesses of his classmates.

He hadn’t noticed the oxymoron that was Nagisa Shiota, in their initial meeting anyway. He hadn’t cared to learn his classmates’ names back then; Shiro would have told him if it was really important so he just hadn’t bothered. He hadn’t paid too much attention to the blue-haired boy during his failed attempts either; his attention had been filled by his target and the taunting of his tentacles and handler. But he’d started picking up on the boy’s contradictory nature when he’d settled into his place in the class.

Nagisa’s weakness took a form that Itona hadn’t previously considered, as cliché as it sounded, the blue-haired boy’s greatest weaknesses also doubled as his greatest strengths but that wasn’t what Itona had found difficult to understand. For most people, a weakness was merely a character flaw they’d developed over time, usually coming with an unchanging set of words or actions that could be used to exploit it. Nagisa’s were different; sure, his weaknesses were also character flaws that developed in a similar manner to everyone else’s, but the triggers seemed ever changing. None of them ever intended to exploit his weaknesses – barring Karma and Nakamura that is, but the three of them had a strange chemistry that most of them didn’t understand – but it was difficult not to when they never knew what to look for. Initially, at least.

Itona had noticed enough of a pattern to realise the three main triggers; fear, anger, and sadness. Fear usually meant that Nagisa would be jumpy for a while, hyper aware of everything happening around him, his entire body tensed ready to either fight or flee. Anger was very similar, while not completely aware of what was going on around him, Nagisa was usually intently focused on whatever – or whoever – it was that sparked the emotion in the first place. Sadness was a different story, the blue-haired boy would withdraw into himself, blanking everything else out entirely until he’d thought himself into a panic attack or worse.

He’d asked Korosensei about it once, but their teacher hadn’t offered much guidance, merely laughing that infuriating laugh of his before leaving to do whatever it was he did when he wasn’t butting into their lives. Though the brief air of concern Itona had managed to detect was troubling.

He didn’t confront Nagisa with his observations, sure he had his suspicions but he didn’t want to risk putting a wall between them in the event he’d assumed incorrectly – it had taken his classmates months to breach _his_ walls, he didn’t want to think about how long it would take to breach Nagisa’s – but he did continue to pay close attention to them. Was he planning on exploiting them? No, he very much enjoyed _not_ having a knife pressed against his throat thank you very much, but he was always quick to act as a shield when needed.

“Thanks Itona.” The former tentacle-wielder merely nodded when the taunting calls of the thugs finally faded away, neither of them looked particularly intimidating and they both possessed characteristics which seemed to attract undesirables.

“Don’t mention it.” He responded lamely, he hadn’t really done anything. It didn’t take a genius to realise the teens weren’t actually planning on hurting them, the fact they didn’t seem at all riled up by the glare Itona had directed at them was proof enough, plus there was no doubt in the white-haired boy’s mind that Nagisa would have been able to handle them if it had come to it.

That was the reason why Itona didn’t criticise the other boy for his weakness. Nagisa wasn’t invincible, he didn’t have superhuman powers, but he did have his bloodlust. The bloodlust was intimidating, especially when triggered as a defence against his weaknesses, the uncontrollable-ness of it enough to rival Itona’s own – back when he was only focused on killing anyway – bloodlust and weakness, it was a deadly combination when you think about it.

They didn’t have a routine as such, but they did have a mutual agreement. Itona was always quick to jump to Nagisa’s defence when one of his triggers had been stepped on, whether that meant punching some bastard in the face or dragging him from an uncomfortable conversation rarely mattered to him. And if he just so happened to get some stress relief out of it well, he’d wear the bruises with honour and if anyone had a problem with it? Well, he wasn’t the type to back out of a fight anyway.


End file.
